Michael Kieffer

Professional Background

Educational Background

Ed.M. in Quantitative Methods in Developmental Research, Harvard Graduate School of Education

B.A. in English with Honors, Stanford University

Scholarly Interests

Michael J. Kieffer will be leaving Teachers College in September, 2012 to join the faculty of New York University as an Associate Professor of Literacy Education. You can reach him at his new email address: michael.kieffer@nyu.edu.

Selected Publications

Kieffer, M.J. (in press). Before and after third grade: Longitudinal evidence for the shifting role of socioeconomic status in reading growth. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Advanced online publication. DOI 10.1007/s11145-011-9339-2

Kieffer, M.J. (in press). Early Spanish and English language proficiency and later reading development among Spanish-speaking English language learners: Evidence from a nine-year longitudinal study. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Kieffer, M.J. (2008). Catching up or falling behind? Initial English proficiency, concentrated poverty, and the reading growth of language minority learners in the United States. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 851-868.

Kieffer, M.J. & Lesaux, N.K. (2008). The role of derivational morphological awareness in the reading comprehension of Spanish-speaking English language learners. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 21, 783-804.

Principal Investigator (2011-2012). Exploring Heterogeneity in the Linguistic, Metalinguistic, and Reading Skill Profiles of Adolescent English Language Learners.Funded by the Spencer Foundation. $25,000.

An exploratory study describing heterogeneity in specific linguistic and metalinguistic strengths and weaknesses of English language learners in sixth grade classrooms. This study aims to uncover subtypes of profiles that demonstrate hidden strengths to be leveraged and weaknesses to be addressed by reading instruction.

Principal Investigator (2010-2012). English Language Learners' Growth in Mathematics and Reading during Early Adolescence: Do K-8 Schools Make A Difference? Funded by the American Educational Research Association Grants Program with support from the National Science Foundation. $35,000

A longitudinal, quasi-experimental study of the effects of transitioning to a middle school relative to remaining in a K-8 school on English language learners' growth trajectories in reading and mathematics, using public-use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort.

Subproject Principal Investigator (2010-2011). Student Transitions through the Middle Grades. Subcontract in collaboration with the Research Alliance for New York City Schools with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (J. Kemple, PI). $33,500.

A longitudinal study investigating change in students' attendance and achievement across transitions into, through, and beyond the middle grades as they predict probability of high school graduation, using administrative data from New York City Schools.

A pilot study to develop measures to investigate the roles of specific dimensions of academic language proficiency in reading comprehension of science and social studies texts for English language learners in the middle school grades.

A&HT 4171: TESOL Methodologies for 7 - 12

Teaching ESL to secondary students, stressing content area ESL and second language literacy. Special fee: $15.

A&HL 4907: Research and independent study: Applied linguistics

Permission of instructor required. Research under the direction of a faculty member. Students work individually or with others. Course may be taken more than once.

A&HL 5207: Fieldwork in applied linguistics and TESOL

Permission of instructor required. Opportunity for qualified students, individually or in small groups, to develop and pursue projects, in consultation with an advisor, in schools, communities, and other field settings. Course may be taken more than once.

A&HL 6207: Advanced fieldwork in applied linguistics and TESOL

Permission of instructor required. Opportunity for qualified students, individually or in small groups, to develop and pursue projects, in consultation with an advisor, in schools, communities, and other field settings. Course may be taken more than once.